One of the first things U.S.Rep.Sean Casten said at the town hall meeting in Orland Park was how much he values town hall meetings.Casten spent an hour at the Orland Park Library March 16, most of the time taking questions from the audience of more than 150.“I’m a huge, huge fan of town halls.I think they are the best because it helps me do my job well,” he told the crowd at his first gathering in Orland Park.“It’s a chance to talk and have a two-way dialogue.
It’s also a chance to share some of the interesting and complicated things in Washington.“As long as you all keep showing up, I’ll keep doing them.” Casten beat Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in the redrawn 6th District in November, and he estimates that 73% of the district is new to him.The district used to be heavy in the Western suburbs, and LaGrange, Wheaton, Downers Grove and Glen Ellyn remain under his watch.
But it has added Orland Park, a part of Tinley Park, many south suburbs and parts of Chicago.People are also reading… He has met with several mayors now in his district, but at the time of the town hall, he had not met with Pekau.Casten said he found meeting the new mayors “fascinating.” “The district that I still represent a part of — the old 6th District, if you will — was predominantly commuter suburbs that commuted to Chicago,” he told reporters after the town hall meeting.“It was places where people lived but not really where people worked.
Barrington, Hinsdale, Wheaton, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn.… The South Side has more places where people work.
Yes, people live there as well, but a lot of these communities have both.” Topics that came up at the meeting included environmental issues, Social Security issues, immigration and the recent banking problems.At the time of the town hall, three major banks had collapsed.Casten told the crowd they should be concerned but not to panic as depositors are “100% protected.” He said some of the collapses were cause by one bank being heavily invested in crypto currency while others were involved in the tech market and New York Law firms.Some got caught in what he calls an “It’s a Wonderful Life” scenario.In that classic movie, George Bailey owns the Building and Loan with much of its deposits tied up in building and improving homes of Bedford Falls residents.
“I go back to George Bailey who said ‘It’s in your house and your house and your house,’’ ’ Casten said.The money of recent failed banks “was in this bond and that bond and that bond.That’s what sort of triggered this.” Casten added that regional banks are still a safe bet.“If your money is in a small, regional bank right now, you have access to more attractive security than you can get than if you are at a big bank ,” Casten said.
“I’m sure the markets will continue to be jittery because everybody is trying to figure out what’s going on.”There is a lot of nervousness about other banks being similarly exposed.So, I expect you will see markets bouncing around a little bit.” But overall he is optimistic with federal safeguards.
“At least from where I sit, I think the Fed did the right thing to isolate this out,” Casten said.“We have required bigger banks to go through stress-testing that they have to go through and a lot of big banks complain about it but it makes sure its capital can sustain shots like this.”.
